Tara Keefe was born and raised in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, where she was influenced by the work of Andrew Wyeth, N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle. After a decade of composing and performing music, Tara discovered a deep interest in painting that quickly developed into a passion. She went on to be mentored by artist Anna B. McCoy, a Wyeth family member, as well as studying with artists, T.R. Colletta, Michael Markowitz and Al Gury of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.Working primarily in oil, Tara's paintings include still lifes, landscapes and figures. She does much of her painting in the Bay Area of California where she resides, as well as Pennsylvania and Maine. Tara seeks to create mood and atmosphere in her paintings with an emphasis on form and brushwork. Utilizing her understanding of and respect for traditional oil painting techniques as a starting point, her works express a deeply emotional, painterly realism."The key to my art is emotion. I want whoever looks at my art to feel something. That's what makes a painting or drawing powerful to me -- when I look at it and react, when I can feel it on an emotional and sensual level."